Charles Stanley Monck, 4th Viscount Monck (10 October 1819 – 29 November 1894) was an Irish politician who served as the last governor-general of the

Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on th ...

and the

first First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm, ...

after

Canadian Confederation Canadian Confederation (french: Confédération canadienne, link=no) was the process by which three British North American provinces, the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, were united into one federation called the Dominion ...

Early life

Charles Stanley Monck was born in

Templemore Templemore () is a town in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is a civil parish in the historical barony of Eliogarty. It is part of the parish of Templemore, Clonmore and Killea in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly. The 2011 Cens ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

on 10 October 1819, which was part of the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Grea ...

at the time. He was the son of

Charles Monck, 3rd Viscount Monck Charles Joseph Kelly Monck, 3rd Viscount Monck (created 1800) and 3rd Baron Monck (1797) of Ballytrammon, County Wexford, in the Peerage of Ireland (12 July 1791 – 24 April 1849), succeeded to his titles on the death of his brother, Henry. He wa ...

, and his wife Bridget '' née'' Willington. His paternal grandparents were

Charles Monck, 1st Viscount Monck Charles Stanley Monck, 1st Viscount Monck, was born in 1754 and died on 9 June 1802. He was the 1st son of Thomas Monck MP, by his wife, Judith Mason, daughter of Robert Mason, of Mason Brook. He was MP for Gorey from 1790 to 1798. He gained the ...

and the former Anne Quin. After his uncle,

Henry Monck, 1st Earl of Rathdowne Henry Stanley Monck, 1st Earl of Rathdowne and 2nd Viscount Monck (26 July 1785 – 20 September 1848), was the son of Charles Monck, 1st Viscount Monck, and Anne Quin. On 28 July 1806, he married Lady Frances Mary Trench, daughter of William Trenc ...

(and 2nd Viscount), died without male heirs (but was father to nine girls), the earldom became extinct and the late earl’s younger brother (Charles Stanley's father Charles) became the 3rd Viscount. His maternal grandparents were John Willington of Killoskehan Castle in

Barnane Barnane () is a townland in the civil parish of the same name in County Tipperary, Ireland. Barnane or Barnane-Ely is one of eleven civil parishes in the historical barony of Ikerrin. It is also part of the Ecclesiastical parish of Drom and Inch. ...

, and the former Bridget Butler (daughter of Theobald Butler of Knocka Castle in

Drom Drom is a commune in the Ain department in eastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Ain department The following is a list of the 393 communes of the Ain department of France. The communes cooperate in the following ...

Career

Monck obtained a law degree from Trinity College, Dublin. He married his cousin Elizabeth Monck in 1844, and in 1849 he inherited his father's title of

Viscount Monck Viscount Monck, of Ballytrammon in the County of Wexford, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1801 for Charles Monck, 1st Baron Monck. He had already been created Baron Monck, of Ballytrammon in the County of Wexford, in 17 ...

. In 1852 he was elected MP for

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, and from 1855 to 1858 he served as

Lord of the Treasury In the United Kingdom there are at least six Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, serving as a commission for the ancient office of Treasurer of the Exchequer. The board consists of the First Lord of the Treasury, the Second Lord of th ...

under

Lord Palmerston Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, (20 October 1784 – 18 October 1865) was a British statesman who was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century. Palmerston dominated British foreign policy during the period ...

Governor General of Canada

In 1861, he was appointed

Governor General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy ...

British North America British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland, then further south at Roanoke and Jamestow ...

as well as Governor of the

. Lord and Lady Monck and their children came to Canada, but they did not remain throughout his term of office as Governor General of Canada. The family resided at Spencerwood in Quebec during most of their stay in Canada. During this time, the Canadian colonies were beginning to organise themselves into a confederation. The

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

had just broken out, and the

Trent Affair The ''Trent'' Affair was a diplomatic incident in 1861 during the American Civil War that threatened a war between the United States and Great Britain. The U.S. Navy captured two Confederate envoys from a British Royal Mail steamer; the Brit ...

caused diplomatic tension between the United States and Britain. The Canadian government was eager to gain some measure of independence during this turbulent period. The Quebec Conference, the

Charlottetown Conference The Charlottetown Conference (Canada's Conference) was held in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island for representatives from colonies of British North America to discuss Canadian Confederation. The conference took place between September 1 thr ...

, and the London Conference, at which the details of confederation were discussed, all took place during Monck's time as governor. Monck supported the idea, and worked closely with

John A. Macdonald Sir John Alexander Macdonald (January 10 or 11, 1815 – June 6, 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 to 1891. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, he had a political career that sp ...

George Brown George Brown may refer to: Arts and entertainment * George Loring Brown (1814–1889), American landscape painter * George Douglas Brown (1869–1902), Scottish novelist * George Williams Brown (1894–1963), Canadian historian and editor * G ...

George-Étienne Cartier Sir George-Étienne Cartier, 1st Baronet, (pronounced ; September 6, 1814May 20, 1873) was a Canadian statesman and Father of Confederation. The English spelling of the name—George, instead of Georges, the usual French spelling—is explained ...

, and

Étienne-Paschal Taché Sir Étienne-Paschal Taché (5 September 1795 – 30 July 1865) was a Canadian doctor, politician, and Father of Confederation. Life Born in St. Thomas, Lower Canada, in 1795, the third son of Charles Taché and Geneviève Michon, Tach� ...

, who formed the "

Great Coalition The Great Coalition was a grand coalition of political parties that brought an end to political deadlock in the Province of Canada. It existed from May 1864 until Confederation in 1867. Prelude Four different ministries had failed in the prev ...

" in 1864. In 1866, Viscount Monck became a peer with the title Baron Monck. When the Canadian colonies became a semi-independent confederation the next year, Monck became the country's first Governor General. Monck was also responsible for establishing

Rideau Hall Rideau Hall (officially Government House) is the official residence in Ottawa of both the Canadian monarch and their representative, the governor general of Canada. It stands in Canada's capital on a estate at 1 Sussex Drive, with the main b ...

as the residence of the Governor General in Ottawa.

Later life

In 1869, Monck was succeeded by

John Young, 1st Baron Lisgar John Young, 1st Baron Lisgar (31 August 1807 – 6 October 1876) was a British diplomat and politician. He served as Governor General of Canada (1869–72), Governor of New South Wales (1861–67) and as Chief Secretary for Ireland (1853–55) ...

. He returned home to Ireland, where he became Lord Lieutenant of Dublin in 1874.

Personal life

Lady Elizabeth Louise Mary Monck by William Notman

On 23 June 1844, he married Lady Elizabeth Louise Mary Monck, his first cousin and the daughter of his uncle Henry, the 2nd Viscount, who had been made Earl of Rathdowne in 1822. Together, they were the parents of two sons and two daughters: * Hon. Frances Mary Monck (d. 1930), who married the Rev.

Richard Aslatt Pearce Richard Aslatt Pearce (9 January 185521 July 1928) was the first deaf person to be ordained as an Anglicanism, Anglican clergyman. He was educated via the sign language of his era, he became Chaplain to the deaf-mute, Deaf and Dumb, and he fulf ...

. * Hon. Elizabeth Louise Mary Monck (d. 1913), who married John Macdonald Royse. * Henry Power Charles Stanley Monck, 5th Viscount Monck (1849–1927), who married Lady Edith Caroline Sophia Scott, the fourth daughter of John Scott, 3rd Earl of Clonmell, in 1874. * Hon. Richard Charles Stanley Mountjoy Monck (1858–1892), who married Alice Ann Lymer in 1879. Lady Monck died in June 1892, aged 78. He died in November 1894, aged 75.

Arms

References

External links

* * * http://www.gg.ca
Photograph: Governor General Monck in 1864. McCord MuseumPhotograph: Lord Monck, Governor General in 1866. McCord Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monck, Charles Stanley Monck, 4th Viscount 1819 births 1894 deaths Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Governors General of Canada Governors-General of the Province of Canada Viscounts in the Peerage of Ireland Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Politicians from County Tipperary UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs who inherited peerages UK MPs who were granted peerages Lord-Lieutenants of Dublin Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria